R18+ comes into effect in Australia for videogames

Progressive thinking Australia.

If you are an Australian, rejoice! Because vidoegames now have an R18+ rating, which means if you are an adult, you will be treated like one, and will be able to buy those games without the government saying they’re bad for you.

The legislation to approve the rating was passed in June, and it came into effect in December, which shows that their political process actually is quite fast.

“We’ve actually achieved a good balance where in effect MA15+ has become more restrictive and games that previously would have been in MA15+ are now going to be sitting in R18+,” South Australia’s Attorney-General, John Rau, said.

“It’s a win for the gamers who wanted to have the opportunity as adults to purchase these games, but it’s also a win for parents because they can be more confident that games that are age-inappropriate will not be available to people under 18.”

However, there’s a catch according to Mr. Rau.

“The regime still contemplates that some games will be so unsatisfactory that they will be refused classification altogether. Now, that will continue.”

So a good way to bypass the laws and refuse classification? Sounds great.